bLOG

A few weeks ago I was in the market for a new yoga strap and had in my mind that purchasing an Infinity Strap was the best way to go. The infinity strap is lightweight, small, and either cotton or stretchy. When I realized you could buy a non stretchy or stretchy one I felt unsure of which option was best for me. There I was confused and indecisive so I set amazon aside and went to Centered (@centeredlex) for some open studio time.

As I grabbed a few yoga blocks I saw a colorful basket of yoga straps just calling for me. I wanted to work on my dancer pose after some warmup, but knew I couldn't yet grab my foot on my own with both hands. At first I tried just sliding the one side through and making 1 loop, which was fine but the grip wasn't amazing. Once I started playing around with different strap configurations I found what I believe is the best one, the infinity loop. This allows for lots of length adjustments (not just one size like the Infinity Strap) which makes it the most versatile and efficient option.

You can add a yoga strap into tons of yoga poses for a little more wiggle room, or even deeper stretching. Of course dancer pose is made easier with a yoga strap but poses like king pigeon (Rajakapotasana), hand to foot (Utthita Hasta Padangustasana), and forward bend (Uttanasana) are good ones to try too.

8 steps to a fully adjustable yoga strap infinity loop

To begin, grab a yoga strap that has two metal D-rings on the end, unwrap it and start adjusting!

1. put the medal ring end in your left hand and a section the woven yoga strap in you right, make a bite of yoga strap in your right hand

2. grab the end of the loop and slide 2 to 4 inches through both metal rings

3. spread the two rings apart

4. now head back the other direction with the loop and go over the first ring and through the second ring

One handed tiger, eka hasta vyaghrasana

This pose is great for balance, heart opening, spinal mobility, and prepping for more intense heart openers like wheel or dancer. It is essentially a twist, backbend and heart opener combined into a single amazing posture. One handed tiger can be a little tricky at first but when you get the feeling, it might just be one of your go to poses. Simply grabbing your ankle and holding for 5 seconds is a great start for this pose. If it's feeling wobbly, forget about raising your knee high, focus on pulling your arm and upper body back and up simply by pressing your ankle directly behind you. Move slowly, listen to your body, and experiment with shifting more weight into your hand with fingers spread wide. It pairs well with cat/cow when you are on hands and knees arching and rounding. In fact doing a little cat/cow flow is the perfect warmup for Eka Hasta Vyaghrasana and it is also the starting position.

1. Start on all fours (hands and knees) with your wrists directly beneath your shoulders, as well as stacking the hips directly above the knees. 2. On an inhale lift up your right leg simultaneously with your left arm and make a connection with the hand on the inner right ankle. 3.Continue slow breaths, make spider fingers for extra stability and begin to stretch up with the gaze directly forward or up towards the sky.4. Press the foot back and upward against the hand with the same amount of energy as the hand pulling the foot forward and stretching up.5. On an exhale slowly release the hand and knee back to the floor, repeat with the left foot and right hand.​

Begin to have an awareness of your breath. This is the most important and basic concept of yoga from my perspective. Yet simply turning your attention to your breath can be very difficult when we are surrounded by commotion - either physically or mentally. Try and tune your listening channel to that of static noise and think only about your breath. Think about where the oxygen goes to, where is the blood carrying it? To the brain, toes, fingers, knees? Where in your body could some healing energy go?

Once you have practiced and feel comfortable with this awareness, begin breathing only through your nose.

at the top of each breath add a pause

slowly release the breath until empty

pause again at the bottom of the breath

repeat

In the start of your practice and in your breath I find it important to move as slowly as possible. We all know slow and steady wins the race, but the slow and steady stay free of injury too! No matter how experienced you are in your practice it is important to warm the body up slowly, and move slowly as to pay attention to every factor altering our balance. When you slow things down you allow yourself the space to think about all the things you must remember about breathing, alignment, and engaging specific muscles during a pose. You owe it to yourself to clear your mind and live each breath to its fullest. A goal of yoga and meditation is to create stillness, the slower you go the more prepared you are for stillness.

Advice for first time yogis - incorporate this breathing and conscious reflection into your daily life as much as possible! This will lay a fantastic foundation for the movement and strength in your practice that is to come when you get on your mat.